A letter from Mr. John Reinhold Forster, F.R.S. to William Watson, M. D. [microform] : giving some account of the roots used by the Indians, in the neighbourhood of Hudson's Bay, to dye porcupine quills

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VI T. y4 Letter from Mr, John Relnhold
Forfter, F. R. S. to William Watfon,
M. D» giving fome Account of the Roots
tifecl by the Indians, in the Neighhourf.

« hood £/' Hudfori's-Bay, to dye Porcupine

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N** 2, Somerfet Stable-yard, Strand,
Jan. i6, 1772.

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Read Feb. 27,
1772.

AMONG the curiofities prefentcd
by the Hudfon's Bay Company to,
the Royal Society, is a fpall parcel of porcupine
quills, dyed by the wild natives, fome red and fomq
yellow, together with the roots of fome plants they
ufe for that purpofe,

. I examined them carefully, at your defire, and ,
found that they are probably of the fame kind witl^
ihofe mentioned by Prof. Kalm, vol. iii. p. 14. and
J 60 of the Engllfh tranflatipn. The one root, dying ,
yellow, is called by the French in Canada, Tifavoy- .
annejaunei the other, dying red, has the name of.
Tifavoyaone rouge. Prof. Kalm declares the latter i
to be a new plant, belonging to the genus of Galium, ]
and received by Dr. Linnaeus in his Species Plan- \
trum, p. 153. by the fpecific name of Tindtorium, ^

[ 55 ]

bn account of Its dying quality. It grows in woody,
moift places, in a fine foil. Kalm obferves, " that
" the roots of this plant are employed by the In-
«« dians in dying the quills of the American Por-
«< cupine red, which they put into feveral places of
<« their work : air, fun, and water, feldom cliange
" this cdlour. The French women in Canada
" fometimes dye their cloth red with thefe roots,
*« which are but fmall, like thofe of the Galium
" luteum or yellow bedftraw."

bi-. Linnaeus defcribes this plant, as having fix
narrow linear leaves at each knot of the ftem, and
fdur at the branches j commonly two flowers are en
each ftalk, apd its feeds are fmooth. The roots,
when dry, are of the thicknefs of a crow quill, brown
on the outfide, and of a bright purple red, when
broken, on the in fide.

The fecond plant, or the Tifavoyanne jaune, is
according to Prof. Kalm, vol. iii. p. i6o. " the
" threeleaved Heflebore {^Helleboriis trifolius Linn.)
*' grows plentifully in woods, in mofly, not too wet,

places. Its leaves and ftalks are employed by the

Indians to dye yellow feveral kinds of their work,

made of prepared fkins. The French learned
** from them to dye wool and other things yellow
" with this plant."

Among the roots fent as a fpecimen from Hudfon'S'
bay, I found feveral leaves, which I feparated, and
found the plant undoubtedly to be the threeleaved
Hellebore. '

In the 4th vol. of Dr. Linnaeus's Amoenitates

Academicae is a figure of this plant, which upon

comparifon I found by no means to be accurate : for

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the leaves in our fpecimens, and in thofc col]e<fted by.
a gentleman wlio favored me with the fight of
the plant, are far more pointed, than in the engraved
fif^urc. The ftalks have conllantJy but one flower.

The dyed porcupine-quills iznt along with the
roots from Iludfon's-bay, are of the brighteft red and
vellow : and this circumftance fuggeiled to me the
thoughts of trying whether thefe roots might not
be ufefully employed in dying. I mentioned it to
you, and was encouraged to make fuch a trial, as
the finall quantity of the roots would permit.

I boiled a piece of flannel in a folution of half
fait of tartar and half alum : the wet flannel was
hereupon put into the decodion of the threeleaved
Hellebore-roots, and boiled in it for the fpace of
about 1 2 or 1 5 minutes j the flannel, when extracted,
was dyed with a bright and lafl:ing yellow dye. A
white porcupine quill, boiled in the fame decodlion,
became nearly of as bright a yellow, as thofe lent
over from Hudfon's-bay. This experiment made
me believe, that I had hit upon the right method
of dying with the threeleaved Hellebore ; and will,
I hope, prompt the diredors of the Hudlon's-bay
Company to order larger quantities of this root from
their fettlements, as it will no doubt become an
ufelul article of commerce.

The flannel, boiled in fait of tartar and alum as
above-mentioned, v/as likewife immerfed and boiled
for nearly the fame fpace of time as in the former
experiment, in a decodion of the root of the Ga-
lium Tindorium, but it would dye only a dull and
faint red. A porcupine quill boiled with it be-
came yellow, but by no means red. This opera-

t57}

lion convinced fne, that the Indians muft certainly
have fome method or other to extradt the bright
and laftmg colour, which I could not perform.
They ufc perhaps the root quite frefh, which circum-
ftance probably makes them fucceed in their dying
procefs. If it could be brought about, to extraS
and afterwards to fix on wool the dye of this root»
it would, no doubt, on account of its bright colour,
be a valuable acquilition for our manufadures : and
I do not in the lead doubt of the probability to fuc-
^ed in the attempt, as the wollen fluffs are ani-^
mal fubftances as well as the porcupine quills, and
therefore eafily fufceptible of any dye.

The diredtors of the Hudfon's-bay Company will^,
we hope,, order their fervants at the fettlements tp
examine carefully and minutely, the method em-
ployed by. the Indians in dying red with this root,,
and to fendc an account thereof, and greater quan-*
tities- of this root over, that feveral chemifls may
be enabled to make experiments at large with them ;
for often, in dying, the experiments will not fucceed>,
when tried/ in fmall quantities.

The wild inhabitants of North America are cer-
tainly poffefTed of many important arts; which,.
i;i^en thoroughly known^ would enable the Euro-
peans to make a better, . and more extendve ufe
of many, unnoticed plants, and productions of this
vafl continent, both in phytic, and in improv<»
iBg our manufadures, and ereding new branches^
of commerce.

To give an inflance of this, I will only mention,,
that the Spaniards of Mexico have but lately learnt
of the inhabitants of . California, . the art . of dying.;
Vol. LXII.. 1. the.

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ihe depeeft and mod lafting black, that ever was ytft
known. They call the plant they employ for that
purpofe Cafcalote J it is arboreous, with fmall leave*
and yellow flowers; its growth is ftill flower than
• that of an oak ; it is the lead corrofivo of all the
known fubftances employed in dying, and ftrikcf
the deepeft black ; fo that, for inftance, it penetrate*
a hat to fuch a degree, that the very rags of it are
thoroughly black. The leaves of the Gafcalote are
'iimilar to thole of the Hufiaoke, another plant like-
wife ufed for dying black with, but of an inferioo
quality. The latitude of California lets us hope,
that the country near the Miffiflippi, or one of tho
Florida's, contains this Cafcalote, the acquifition of
which would be of iuiinite ufe in our manufac-p
•tures. • '■ *••-'

Were Natural Hiftory thus employed in applying
"the natural produflions for procuring the neceflaries,
•or adding to the comforts and ornaments, of human
life, it would for the future free this fcience fr6m
the vulgar opinion, that it is merely fpeculative, and
►incapable of being of the leaft utility in common
life; a prejudice which gains more ground by the
injudicious and unprofitable manner, now chiefly in
'Vogue, in fludying this branch of human knowledge;
and which might be removed, if powerful trading
companies would encourage the effortsof the naturalift,
by enabling them to fearch the treafures of nature,
in the various countries fubjed to the Britifh Crown,
and connected with its fubjeds by trade and com*
merce Pardon, Sir, that I detain you fo long on
a point of which you are fo well convinced, and

which

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which you have frequent opportunities toconvincr
others of*. I am, with the trucft regard^

SlR»

Your mod ohedient.

humhle fervan^.

J|>ha Reinhold Fbrftec«

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